RADM Stephen E. Mehling served as the Commander of FORCECOM, in addition to the position of Deputy Commander of Coast Guard Pacific Area, beginning on April 1, 2011. Prior to that assignment he served as Director of Operations of Coast Guard Atlantic Area, where he oversaw Coast Guard missions from the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf, with operational assets that included 179 cutters, 87 aircraft and 1,106 boats located in 26 Sectors. Prior to that assignment, RADM Mehling served as the Commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District in Honolulu. Headquartered in Honolulu, HI, the Area of Operations for this command encompasses over 12.2 million square miles in the Central and Western Pacific Ocean. The position included responsibility for staff leadership, budget management, and mission execution, and it requires significant international engagement in the Pacific theater.
Prior to that assignment, RADM Mehling served as Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Air Station Miami, FL where he directed fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft operations throughout the Southeast U. S. and the Caribbean, including oversight of the Coast Guard’s support detachment in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
RADM Mehling was a career aviator with 17 years of operational flying experience at air stations on the East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast, including two air station command tours. Between aviation assignments, he served 9 years in program oversight and personnel management duties in Washington, DC, including service as the Chief of Officer Personnel Management, Deputy Chief of Aviation Forces, and Shipboard-Helicopter Platform Manager. During these assignments, he directed the shipboard testing of the HH-60J helicopter aboard Coast Guard cutters, participated in the Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces, and was presented the DOT Secretary’s Team Award for his leadership of the Aviation Resource Modeling Team.
RADM Mehling received his commission in 1980. His first assignment was as a Deck Watch Officer and as the Operations Officer aboard CGC SWEETGUM. Following this tour afloat, he attended flight training in Pensacola, FL in 1982 and was designated a Coast Guard aviator in 1983. RADM Mehling holds a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors in Mathematics from the Coast Guard Academy and a Master of Science degree in Management from the University of Maryland. In 2009, he attended the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu and was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Pacific Islands Forum in Cairns, Australia.
RADM Mehling’s personal awards include four Meritorious Service Medals with Operational Device, two Coast Guard Air Medals, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals with Operational Device, the 9-11 Medal and numerous other team, unit, and individual awards.
RADM Mehling retired on 1 July 2015.